goodies from down south

[marthandan]

moin ...will give plaster of paris a try.
dr.jayakumar...yet to decide on the handle. my older ones have a horn handle (buffalo...i think) and a wooden handle. will let you know once its done. will take some time, other projects are pending
timmy...the kukri blank cost me INR 700, the veech aruval was for INR 3k and the other aruval came to INR600.

[essdee1972]

Moin, Marthandan - POP degenerates with heat (forgot the exact temp). Actually, the molecules in POP form a hydrated bond (CaCO3.xH2O - "x" being something I don't remember). The setting of POP is, hence a chemical reaction and not a physical reaction. If you heat it to "some" temperature, it will get back to the original, powdery state. Potter's clay, on the other hand, sets at high temperatures. Of course, you can use a blow torch (not a welding torch) on POP (like they do on idols and statues) to dry it faster. The exact temperatures, etc. might be found on wikipedia or something.

[varunik]

Agree with essdee! Pop is actually a hydrated salt.
But it's not CaCO3. CaCO3 is calcium carbonate or lime.
It's CaSO4, calcium sulphate or gypsum lime with 1/2 H2O. ( CaSO4.1/2H2O )

If you seat it up, the water molecule will dry and you'll be left with black residue.

Marthadan Try Atta ( kneaded flour) or go ask for some clay from nearest dhaba where they have a tandoor.

[Priyan]

Dear essdee1972,
Speaking of heat treat requirement on leaf spring knife, IMHO even if it's cut with a hacksaw and shaped and filed with hand the leaf spring will have to be heated and pounded with hammer to straighten it almost all the time, thereby ruining the temper. I heat treat all the knives I built no matter if it's from leaf spring, old files or pocket knife from from double edged hacksaw blades.I always anneal the bandsaw blades and files before working on them. It makes it easier to file and shape with hand and is easy on the the tools.

About the blue tint after drilling steel, you should use cutting oil (normal oil works too) to lower the generated heat and increase the tooling life.

[Priyan]

kukri blank cost me INR 700

What? You can get a finished khukri for less than 300 rupees here. They are not heat treated properly though, I guess the blank is not heat treated either.

You said it, I stay in a 400 sq.ft apartment, can't do a thing without my mother india acting nosy and the pesky neighbours complaining.

As essdee1972 suggested, A house in a small town with a workshop or at least a garage attached would suit you perfectly but you might miss few things. Better yet become a hillbilly (A computer literate) like me and move to rural area, no more pesky neighbors
I got 99 problems but a "lack of personal freedom" ain't one.

[timmy]

marthandan, thanks fir that! It gives me ideas...

Moin, can you hear the wheels turning?

Gentlemen, thank you for a most interesting thread so far!

[marthandan]

You can get a finished khukri for less than 300 rupees here. They are not heat treated properly though, I guess the blank is not heat treated either.

thats something! but then, i guess i paid more for making the blacksmith do something that is not the usual for him.

[essdee1972]

Agree with essdee! Pop is actually a hydrated salt.
But it's not CaCO3. CaCO3 is calcium carbonate or lime.
It's CaSO4, calcium sulphate or gypsum lime with 1/2 H2O. ( CaSO4.1/2H2O )

Sorry, I mixed up the chemical formulae!!

Any idea from anyone on where one can find a no-questions-asked kind of heat treatment place in Mumbai? I can probably do the microwave tempering at home, the earlier steps will have to be "outsourced". In a place where a tiny pocket knife causes eyebrows to disappear into the hair, taking a 12"+ thing (blade + handle) to the local blacksmith might cause an increase in arrest statistics!

Anyway, happy tooling, guys! I am at the sanding stage on my khukri now, doing with 100#, will move on to 220# and finally 100#. Taking it slowly, as the arm pain after the first day's enthusiastic 3-hr hacksawing marathon reminded me of the day, aeons ago, that I was introduced to the world of adult entertainment Will post pics "soon".

[Priyan]

Any idea from anyone on where one can find a no-questions-asked kind of heat treatment place in Mumbai? I can probably do the microwave tempering at home, the earlier steps will have to be "outsourced". In a place where a tiny pocket knife causes eyebrows to disappear into the hair, taking a 12"+ thing (blade + handle) to the local blacksmith might cause an increase in arrest statistics!

Anyway, happy tooling, guys! I am at the sanding stage on my khukri now, doing with 100#, will move on to 220# and finally 100#. Taking it slowly, as the arm pain after the first day's enthusiastic 3-hr hacksawing marathon reminded me of the day, aeons ago, that I was introduced to the world of adult entertainment Will post pics "soon".

Try machine shops around you, they would have a better furnace than blacksmiths. The 12" thing can be heat treated as long as you are smart enough to BS the guy there. Say your dad was a Gorkha and you are restoring his service Khukri to gift him on his birthday which is coming in this week.

Why would you from 100 grit to 220 grit and then to 100 grit again? Did you mean to type 1000?

Speaking of hormone filled teenage adventure, nobody can sum it up better than Green Day
"Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise"
[youtube][/youtube]

BTW something is telling me you were reminiscing about your teenage while typing this post

[Priyan]

thats something! but then, i guess i paid more for making the blacksmith do something that is not the usual for him.

Yea, gotta keep the economy running.

[essdee1972]

Say your dad was a Gorkha and you are restoring his service Khukri to gift him on his birthday which is coming in this week.

Not being racist here, but I don't really have Gorkha features. However, I think in Indian Army, officers can be posted in any regiment... let's try some BS-ing!!

Why would you from 100 grit to 220 grit and then to 100 grit again? Did you mean to type 1000?

400, buddy, 400!

BTW something is telling me you were reminiscing about your teenage while typing this post

Yeah!! Those were the days!!